How To Manage Restaurant Equipment Inventory

Equipment Is The Bones Of A Restaurant

No Restaurant Functions Without Its Equipment | Source

Restaurant Inventory

Inventory is what a restaurant is all about. Restaurants move inventory all day, every day. They receive goods and store goods, then process them into new food products and serve them out the front door. What many restaurant managers do not consider is that your equipment is part of your inventory and must be managed the same as the food, beverage and dry goods.

Restaurant equipment inventory can be divided into two major categories; small wares and large equipment. Small wares can be anything from forks and plates to large pots, blenders and food processors; basically anything that can be considered to be unrepairable or have a short life span. Large equipment includes all the coolers, freezers, ovens, ranges, air conditioners and other large items that are repairable and have a long lifespan.

Small Wares

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Managing Small Wares Inventory

Small wares make up the bulk of your equipment inventory in number of objects if not outright value. A small 75 seat operation may have as many as 500 or more pieces of silverware, not counting service utensils, glasses, plates, pots and pans. There are two things to keep in mind when you begin small wares inventory management: you must have an inventory and you must have a budget to maintain it.

Breakage

Some small wares are bound to break and need to be replaced regularly. Glassware, silverware and other little bits of service ware are obvious examples of things prone to breakage. Some of the items are even collectible to your customers. Any thing with a logo or that is unique is subject to being "collected" by patrons.

Back Up Inventory

Anything that is regularly replaced is better tracked as a dollar value than a number. Keeping track of the day to day variance of the number of forks on the floor is a waste of time for you and your staff. You can keep better track of things like silverware by setting a budget and maintaining some replacement inventory off the floor. When you need more spoons or tongs subtract them from the small wares budget. I always keep a stash with things like silver ware, glassware, shakers, wine keys, pens and other odds and ends. If I notice that I am going through my back up glass ware or kitchen tongs faster than usual then something is wrong and its time to fix it.

Keeping A Small Wares Inventory

Everything the restaurant needs in terms of small wares should be on a list. The list can be broken up in a number of ways but the most common are front of the house, back of the house and maintenance. The front of the house inventory will list all of the small wares in storage and service, including the glasses, silver ware, linens, dishes and other service items. It should also include things like tea pots and brooms, The back of the house inventory will list things like the pots and pans but also tongs, measuring cups, sheet pans, terrine molds and other odds and ends of the culinary art. These lists should be checked on a weekly or monthly basis to make sure that you have all that you need. The cost should be lumped together as small wares purchases and come from the previously set budget.

Restaurant Equipment

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Managing Large Restaurant Equipment

Managing the large equipment is a different story. First, the cost of each piece is much larger than for a small ware and second the expected lifespan is much longer. The management of this equipment begins with what you have. First you need to inspect the kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms and other vital parts of the property to see what you have and assess what your needs may be.

Old Or New, Your Equipment Must Be Managed

What are you starting with? A rare few of us are fortunate enough to work in a totally new facility. My advice for this is beware! A new operation can have just as many problems with equipment as an old one. For the rest, see what you have, check out its condition and any repair logs available. Once you have a baseline of your equipment prepare a needs analysis and a budget that will help you meet those needs.

The Cost Of Large Equipment

It is obvious that your large equipment comes with a higher cost. In order to make the most out of your investments you must include the ongoing costs of maintenance. I recommend that preventive maintenance always be included in any budget. If there is one thing that is true in a restaurant it is that your equipment will break. I like to include the plumbing and the HVAC in this category as well because they will both need regular maintenance to insure proper functioning. These two costs are usually counted as building repair on the p&l but are easily incorporated into any equipment maintenance schedule.

Daily maintenance - create a schedule of daily maintenance tasks that will help ensure the proper functioning of your equipment. This can include cleaning and properly covering prep coolers,logging reach-in temperatures, emptying grease catchers and clearing drains.

Weekly maintenance - these tasks include things like checking and clearing cooler fans and drip tubes, emptying condensation trays, and checking for loose or broken parts. Also included is changing air conditioner filters, water filters and any hood maintenance.

Preventive maintenance - in most areas restaurant managers can contract with local technicians to do regularly scheduled maintenance checks. I highly recommend this. Having the refrigeration repairman come out and fix problems before they arise will pay for itself the first season you don't loose a walk-in full of product to a blown condenser unit or other malfunction. Refrigeration and HVAC repairmen and are common sources of preventive maintenance.

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